A perennial for a shady, long and very narrow border

Along the path from the front to the back garden we have a very narrow border - it is 6" wide and 5 metres long (I know, I'm being ecumenical).

It faces North,north-west; half of it is against our neighbours' brick garage wall and the other half is against a 1m high brick wall.

I'd like to have something climbing up there but I know the neighbours don't want that, so I just want some ideas for a plant or plants that will cover the narrow strip of soil with some colour and texture and look good.

The soil is sandy loam.

The colours in the front garden are blues, plums, rusts and soft yellows.

I've pulled up all the trailing campanula that was there 'cos it always got tall and flopped over onto the path before it flowered.

At the moment I'm thinking Ajuga, but I thought you lot might have some other suggestions?

I have a North facing bed which contains established Bay, Willow and Mallow. They are drawn up due to the boundary wall/fence........about 1.5 to 2 mt high. Also a beautiful Pineapple Broom (C. batt.) which is now high enough to reach the sun and smells fantastic. I've pruned all to try and form a canopy and give the actual border a bit more light and so far have found that Heucheras do quite nicely...........both the yellow, dark purple and, more recently a pale rusty colour. I also have the Ajuga with the black leaf........the foliage can "disappear" a bit (particularly against my mulch of shreddings ) but the blue of the flowers is sufficiently vibrant to make it worthwhile.

I also have hardy fuchsias, ferns, prims, cranesbill etc. as well as various bulbs.

I haven't had your soil type so perhaps most of these wouldn't do too well for you but I find all ideas are grist to the mill. Be interested to know what you finally decide on because my patch is ongoing and perhaps I can filch/adapt some of your ideas Oh yes, the blue tits love the C. batt

The old stalwart of Alchemilla mollis will do well in dry shade as will Pachysandra, Epimedium, Francoa, and some of the saxifrages. Tiarella and Pulmonarias will also do ok. Are you intending to plant all of it using just the one type of plant? or a mixture?

I would add as much well rotted manure as you can before planting anything so it helsp retain moisture and feeds your plants.

Hardy geraniums such as macrorhizum would do well and provide form and colour all year form the changing foliage and then the flowers in spring. Scented leaves too. Pulmonaria Sissinghurst would be OK as long as you can give it enough moisture and the white flowers and spotty leaves would brighten things up. Brunnera with silvery markings on the foliage. You could try ferns in the dryopteris group if you want to break up the straight edge and get some height. Maybe some taller Japanese anémones for later flowers and good foliage. I'd have thought Persicaria virginiana 'Lance Corporal' would do well too.

Saxifrage would be evergreen and keep the weeds down at change of season.

Cotoneaster horizontalis, as pansyface said, could be an option it will grow slighty up the wall but not cling and be a problem for your neighbours. The bees could go there when they need cooling off in summer

..I too have a narrow border about the same length... what I did initially was to plant a row of bedding Begonia's...all along the strip until I got other plants established.... not evergreen but plenty of colour in a shady border for best part of the year...

...these other plants are Liriope muscari...evergreen grassy plant flowers late in the year... but they are expensive to buy and has taken me a few years to build up...bit tatty in Spring but they can make a shady narrow border look a bit classy I think...

... in between gaps I still use Begonias for the summer...and celandine 'Brazen Hussey' for Spring..as it soon disappears after flowering...

Convollaria (lily-of-the-valley); polygonatum (Solomon's seal); euphorbia; by constant splitting of plants, you could put hostas in there - they have some beautiful varieties and the neighbours/friends/relatives will be grateful of new plants every year.

There are some little hostas that may be OK but I usually find they're best in pots on a display stand so you can appreciate them. I'd go for something easy to maintain that doesn't suffer from slugs or mildew or other problems so hardy geranium macrorhizum every time as it's evergreen in normal winters and the foliage is scented and turns red for added interest.